


Wasting time, talking on a broken line

by 5sosismylifee



Series: Soulmate aus [3]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: F/M, Fate, Fate & Destiny, Happy Ending tho, Luke and Michael are soulmates, M/M, Multi, Red String of Fate, Sad Luke, Soulmate AU, and Michael fucks it up, noice another one, this turned out pretty angsty whoops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-03
Updated: 2015-08-03
Packaged: 2018-04-12 18:18:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4489890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/5sosismylifee/pseuds/5sosismylifee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Soulmate AU!!<br/>The Red String of Fate exists, and only some people have the ability to see the strings, and these people can actually cut strings and knot other people’s strings in to alter the soulmate laws. Your best friend’s wedding is tomorrow and they know you can see the string. They ask you to help them defy the laws of the universe and help them be with the person they love even though they know that’s not their soulmate. You know they love each other so much so you help them, even though the person your best friend’s marrying/your best friend is your soulmate.<br/>OR:<br/>I choose too long titles (from Close as Strangers by the losers themselves)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wasting time, talking on a broken line

**Author's Note:**

  * For [softrejection](https://archiveofourown.org/users/softrejection/gifts), [Eiri](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eiri/gifts).



> Noice I'm on a roll with these soulmate fics  
> suggested by 5sos_on_pasta (gr8 url amiright)   
> *distant shouting*: I'm always a slut for pasta!  
> but anyways this took me too long to write
> 
> link to the post where i got the prompt below!

[post](http://silentpeaches.tumblr.com/post/125291322610/soulmate-au-story-ideas)

by the lovely [silentpeaches](http://silentpeaches.tumblr.com/)

 

\-------------------------

 

The Red String of Fate exists, and only some people have the ability to see the strings, and these people can actually cut strings and knot other people’s strings in to alter the soulmate laws. Your best friend’s wedding is tomorrow and they know you can see the string. They ask you to help them defy the laws of the universe and help them be with the person they love even though they know that’s not their soulmate. You know they love each other so much so you help them, even though the person your best friend’s marrying/your best friend is  _your_  soulmate.

 

\--------------------------

 

Nobody really knows why they're different.

"The select few"

"The special reds"

or more commonly, "The cursed ones".

Spiderman taught Luke that with great power comes great responsibility, but he didn't think that would apply to him until he learned about the gift.

He knew about soulmates, and as a kid was very excited about the possibility of a new friend (he didn't understand that soulmates were meant to be more than friends quite yet). When he turned 16, however, everything changed.

When he blew out the candles to his birthday cake, he opened his eyes to see a cluster of red lines. Tags marked the names which attached all of his friends and family to their soulmates. He gazed at this new world, simultaneously excited and terrified. He breathed deeply.

"I have it"

And all of his friends gasped and his aunt actually  _fainted_ and his mom looked astonished and scared. They'd reacted like he just announced an STD for God's sake. Wasn't it called a gift for a reason?

From then on, he only told his closest friends about the gift. He couldn't stand the questions of "how long is mine?", "why can  _you_ see them?" and most of all, "what's my tag say?"

Only the gifted could see who's soulmates were who's. It made Luke sick to his stomach.

But he still lay awake at night, staring up at his string and thinking about his tag.

_Michael_

He wondered what Michael was like. Did he like dogs or cats better? What was his favorite flavor of ice cream? Where did he like to go on the weekends?

Luke liked to imagine what Michael would say to him about his gift.

"Wow, that must be really hard on you" was one that nobody really said to him.

"Why do you think you have the gift?" was another.

"I love you no matter what gifts you have" was the one Luke wanted to hear the most. Unfortunately, most people were more interested in the gift itself than Luke.

He hoped Michael was different.

Unfortunately, that turned out to be only partly true.

 

~~

 

One day, Luke decided he'd had enough.

He'd had enough of daydreaming, he'd had enough of imagining and wondering.

He'd decided to find Michael himself. The boy was probably lost or something, because it had been eight years and there was no whisper or sign of Michael coming anytime soon.

So Luke waved goodbye to his apartment, got in his car and started driving. He followed the bright red string, watching as it curved and adjusted to his path of travel. He desperately hoped that Michael was in Australia, because he couldn't afford a plane ticket and he certainly couldn't change direction in the air if his string did. He was just starting to think that maybe Michael was over in New Zealand or something because  _damn_ this boy better be worth it with the amount he's spending on gas when he felt his string loosen. He saw a dip and grinned hard because  _he's close_ and that sounds like he's some sort of serial killer or something but whatever because Luke was finally going to meet Michael.

He got off the freeway and just when he thought he was crazy because he had no idea where he was, he got a feeling. So Luke turned left and continued until he was stopped outside of a house.

_This is it_ , he thought. His string seemed to be pulling him to the front door, and Luke nervously walked up, fixing his hair and bouncing on the balls of his feet. He rang the doorbell and heard a dog barking.

" _ASHTON GET YOUR FUCKING DOG UNDER CONTROL"_ Luke heard, and his stomach jumped because somehow he knew  _that was Michael_.

The door opened but was quickly pulled back by a chain lock. Luke heard a swear, and a click, then the door opened all the way and there was a boy standing there and Luke thought he was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

Black hair and green eyes were the first things Luke saw, and he noticed cherry red lips and a mouth opened in question. His eyebrows were raised, a shocked silence falling between the two soulmates.

"Are you Michael?" Luke was able to croak out. When did he lose his voice?

Michael just nodded, and Luke smiled and laughed in relief. He covered his mouth with his hand, giggling into it. He then held it out for Michael to shake.

"I'm your soulmate"

Half an hour and a gallon of dog slobber later, Luke was seated on Michael's couch with his soulmate and Ashton, Michael's best friend and roommate. Ashton had made them all tea for some reason, and a cute little mug was cradled in Luke's hands as he tried to soak in the information he had been given.

"So let me get this straight" He said, and Michael nodded.

"You want me...to cut our string?" Luke said, eyebrows furrowed. Michael bit his lip and nodded. Luke wished he hadn't, because now he was thinking about biting Michael's lip.

"So that you can get married...to someone who isn't your soulmate?"  _who isn't me_ , he wanted to say, but he refrained from doing so. He didn't want to guilt Michael into changing his mind, that just wasn't fair to anyone.

Michael nodded grimly, and Luke shook his head in confusion.

"No, it isn't right!" He exclaimed, standing up and pacing the room.

"It's not right" He said weakly, stopping in his tracks and looking at Michael with teary eyes.

"Luke, I'm sorry, I know it's a lot to ask-"

"Yeah, it is!" Luke said angrily. "You're asking me to give up my soulmate so he can be with someone else? That's insane!" He gripped his hair firmly in his hands and pulled, then rubbed his palms over his eyes in frustration.

"What's so wrong with me that you have to cut me out of your life?" Luke asked, his voice cracking a little at the end. Michael silently got up, walking over to where Luke was standing and awkwardly wrapped his arms around the blond.

"Nothing's wrong with you, I've just already found someone" Michael said quietly, and Luke buried his head into Michael's shoulder, and this felt  _too good_ , too _right,_ and so he pulled away, wiping away his tears with a huff, and glaring at the red string connecting them. It ran straight from his heart to Michael's, and Luke felt disgusted by it. He thought of how it was a one way street, and blinked furiously to stop the tears from rushing down his face. He looked back up to Michael.

"Do I at least get to meet her? Your fiance?" Luke asked, and Michael nodded enthusiastically, probably glad Luke wasn't crying or whatever. Luke went to sit down on the couch while Michael rang up "Alicia".

Luke drained his tea in anger, sniffling a little and staring blankly at the floor. Ashton opened his mouth to speak, and Luke beat him to it.

"Bryana"

"what?" Ashton asked, looking confused.

"That's your soulmate's name, Bryana. I guessed you wanted to know. That's all anyone wants to know" Luke explained, leaning back and holding his empty mug to his stomach to soak up the leftover warmth, feeling particularly moody.

Ashton sat in silence for a while before speaking.

"Thank you, but that's not what I was going to say" he said quietly, and Luke gave him a sideways look and raised his eyebrow.

"Then shoot away" He said, feeling as if Ashton had earned his trust now.

"Are you really going to do it?" Ashton blurted out, looking desperate. "Are you really going to cut the string?"

Luke thought for a minute, then sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"I just want to know if they're really happy together. If it's worth it. I want to see if they'll be better together than we would be" He said carefully, trying not to tear up again.

They sat quietly for a few more minutes until Luke spoke again.

"Would you do it?" He asked, kind of desperately.

Ashton rubbed his eyes and finally spoke, "I have no idea"

Just then, the doorbell rang and Michael left the bedroom he was in, talking to Alicia on the phone and explaining the situation to her. He answered the door and Luke heard a "hey baby" and a kissing noise, which made him want to throw up. Michael walked in the living room nervously (Luke felt a dirty kind of satisfaction from that) holding the hand of a pretty brunette. They sat together on the loveseat across from the couch, which made Luke want to throw up again.

"Hello Luke" Alicia said politely, and Luke felt glad she was at least decent to him. He nodded his hello, waiting for her to say what she really wanted to.

"Michael tells me you have the gift" She said, and Luke nodded again.  _Here we go._

"That's right, you're soulmate's name is-" Luke squinted to read the tag- "Calum"

Alicia bit her lip and glanced at Michael, who shrugged in a "get on with it" kind of way.

"Well, I'm sure he's a nice guy, but-"

"-Michael's nicer" Luke finished for her, and she nodded uncomfortably. Her left hand twitched, and Luke saw a diamond ring on her finger.

"Alright, let's get this over with" Luke sighed, standing up. The couple stood up with him, still holding hands. He glanced down at their intertwined fingers, then back up again.  _You can do this_ he told himself, and breathed deeply.

"So here are the rules" He started, and Ashton interrupted him with a "there are rules?". Luke glared over at him.

"Of course there are rules, dumbass, this is soulmates we're talking about here" Luke said irritably, wanting to finish as quickly as possible.

"The rules are" Luke started again. "I can only make five changes in my lifetime, and there are two types of changes I can make" He looked at the three observers, laughing internally at how he held their undivided attention.

"I can draw strings-" He said, looking at Alicia. "-and I can cut strings" He finished with a little bit of pain in his voice.

"So what I'm going to do is cut the strings between both Michael and myself and Alicia and this Calum bloke" Luke said, gesturing to the lines only he could see.

"How do you do that?" Michael asked, and Luke flinched at his voice.  _it was so beautiful_.

"All I have to do is make a scissor motion with my fingers to cut-" he demonstrated "-but drawing is harder. I have to focus all of my energy on the two new soulmates, and take the old string between myself and Michael and secure it to you, Alicia" Luke said with a pained expression. This was harder emotionally than he thought it would be.

"But you can do it, right?" Alicia asked nervously. Luke nodded, and Ashton spoke up.

"What will you do, afterwards? Will you not have a soulmate?"

Luke sighed. This was the complicated part.

"No, I'll have to take Alicia's old string so that Calum will have a soulmate as well. But this is a difficult thing to do. Creating soulmates goes against the fundamental laws of the universe, and our bond won't be as strong as-" Luke stopped, glancing at Michael and feeling his face fall. "-as it would be if we were natural soulmates. But he can't be too bad of a guy, right?" Luke said, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Luke rubbed his hands together. "Let's get this party started, then, shall we?" Everyone nodded, and Luke started by walking over to where Michael and Alicia stood, taking both of their hands in his, and looking them both in the eyes.

"Are you sure about this? There's no going back" He asked in a low voice. They nodded, looking at each other then back at him.

"This one's a keeper" He told Alicia, and she laughed a little.

"I'm sorry we couldn't be together. You seem like a wonderful guy" Luke said to Michael, hugging him and placing a kiss on his forehead. Hey, he was allowed to. They were soulmates, even if it wasn't going to be that way forever.

He forced himself to step back, forcing a smile to the two of them. "You'll need to step apart, I need room to work" Luke said, and they walked away from each other about ten paces.

"Alright" Luke said, amping himself up. "Ladies first, right?" he said, walking over to where Alicia stood, looking nervous and bouncing on the balls of her feet. He put his hands on her shoulders to still her.

"I'm honestly not sure if this will hurt or not" He said, before snipping her string just above Calum's name, watching as it turned black. He caught it in the air with his left hand, and after asking Alicia if she was alright, walked over to where Michael stood, following his string until they were only feet apart. He looked at his soulmate sadly.

"I'll miss daydreaming about you, Michael" Luke admitted before snipping his own string.

It hurt more than he could ever imagine.

All of Luke's memories, the bad poems he'd written to Michael, and the nights he's spent staring at his name flew past him like knives, catching on his face and arms. He almost blacked out, but managed to hold onto Michael's string and gasp for air.

He wondered why Alicia didn't fall to her knees.

Then he realized-she probably hadn't thought about Calum that way.

Then he wondered if Calum was crying with him right now, wherever he was.

He shook these thoughts and everyone's questions of "are you okay?" from his head as he walked over to Alicia holding the two strings in each hand, feeling like he was carrying the weight of the world.

"Now comes the hard part" Luke said, holding Michael's string to Alicia's heart like he was sizing her up for a new coat. "How do I attach it?"

Alicia looked scared until it dawned on Luke. He pushed the end of his old string to her heart, and watched in amazement as it sunk through her top and into her skin. She gasped, and Luke saw the string turn red again.

"Huh. Cool" Luke muttered, then turned to the room as a whole to announce that "the operation had been a success" in a sarcastic tone. Michael and Alicia embraced.

"Now for some self care" Luke whispered, and roughly shoved the string with Calum's name on it into his chest.

He felt a rush of fresh air, and an excitement filled his whole body.

_Calum_

"Time for another road trip" Luke announced, and exchanged numbers with the group and told them to keep in touch and invite him to the wedding before leaving to find his new soulmate.

He hoped he wouldn't be wasting his time again.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you liked it, leave a kudos or comment (or both i'm not picky) check out my other works, leave a suggestion if you want and i'll get to it as soon as I can!  
> love you guys you're the best xx  
> ~5sosismylifee
> 
> psst check out my tumblr my url is  
> friendship-and-bubbles  
> yeah that's about it  
> *very fast whispering* i love you ok now bye


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